Press release from Filmscope Entertainment
Filmscope Entertainment and Lightning Entertainment are pleased to announce two major deals for their mystery horror feature film, Needle, ahead of EFM, Berlin.
Grindstone Entertainment Group LLC, has acquired all North American rights to the film and will release it through Lionsgate Home Entertainment while Shochiku has acquired all distribution rights for Japan.
Head of acquisitions at Grindstone Entertainment, Stan Wertlieb, commented “We are thrilled to have acquired this fresh and fun horror film which we believe is the perfect compliment to Lionsgate’s already strong home entertainment line-up for 2011”.
Richard Guardian from Lightning Entertainment, who negotiated the deal together with Filmscope’s John V Soto, noted “Needle is a highly original mystery horror film and we are excited that the film has found a good home with Grindstone”.
Needle’s director, Soto, commented “Apart from wanting to make a cool horror film, it has always been a goal of mine to make a movie good enough to be released in North American through Lionsgate, who are genre specialists, so this is pretty exciting.”
In addition to North America and Japan, Needle has been sold in numerous territories around the world and is set for release in the following countries during 2011; Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Middle-East, India, Korea, Turkey, Indonesia. A deal is close to being finalized for distribution of the film in Australia and New Zealand.
Recently Needle also became the first West Australian film to win a “Golden Skull” award at Screamfest (2010) Los Angeles. The film also won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects and Best Supporting Actress at the 2010 British Horror Film Festival in Bournemouth, England.
Filmed in Perth, Needle features the cream of Australian acting talent including Jessica Marais (Packed to the Rafters), Michael Dorman (Daybreakers, Triangle), Trilby Glover (Righteous Kill), Tahyna Tozzi (Wolverine), Travis Fimmel (The Beast, The Valley), Ben Mendolsohn (Animal Kingdom), Khan Chittenden (West), John Jarratt (Wolf Creek) and Jane Badler (V TV series).
Needle, a supernatural murder mystery, is about a killer who uses an 18th century machine with supernatural powers to terrorize students at a local college.